Gym Stars

Kate and Cole are both in gymnastics…of course, Dave likes to insist that Cole is actually in gym class (not gymnastics) since calling it “gym class” makes it masculine and also okay. Anyway, the kids had a big, to-do performance where they showed off their stuff to the parents. Both kids were awarded medals and were very proud of themselves, as they should be!

New Aquarium

The dad had a rare day off of work. Sissy ditched school, the mom ditched chores, Cole ditched his Legos, and we all headed up to the aquarium for the day. Since the aquarium isn’t fully completed, we got free return tickets to come back before August. Still, lots to see and do.

No new fishies from what we could tell, but we enjoyed the shark tank, touching shark jaws, watching the otters and penguins, and crossing the rope bridge (to name a few things).

We finished our adventure up at Brick Oven. I’m pretty sure we’d be awesome homeschoolers.

St. Patty’s

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: we don’t have the most creative leprechauns or elf on the shelf at our house. But we have them. And the kids appreciate what little they do for us. So the holiday helpers continue to visit. And all is well.

That said, it was St Patrick’s Day and Lenny returned. The past 2 years, Lenny has left a rainbow yarn maze leading to gold coins. He mixed it up this year and left green balloons on the floor of each of the kids’ rooms while they were sleeping, along with a simple card and gold coins.

Morning came, and the littles were thrilled. In fact, Cole could not part to preschool without his 5 golden coins. I took them out of his hands right before, explained that they needed to stay safe at our house, but somehow he managed to sneak them to preschool anyway. And…wouldn’t take them out of his hands during all of preschool, according to Miss Annette. I bet that was fun for her;)

Later that night, I rolled out some Pinterest gems. I printed off these little treats for my favorite people:

Kate was very touched by these gifts and made her own prizes for each family member (using the gold coins our leprechaun left her). She’s a pretty thoughtful little lady. I’m thinking someday she’ll make for a much better leprechaun than her own momma:

To finish the day, we laid out a green table cloth and green dishes, and had ourselves a green dinner: pesto cream pasta, spinach salad, green grapes, and St. Patrick’s donuts for dessert. This was our first time doing a green-themed dinner and it was a lot of fun. I’m thinking it will be a new tradition. It turned out to be a pretty decent holiday and reminded me that doing just a couple of little things on holidays makes a big difference for these little people of ours. I hope they’ll always have fun memories when it comes to the holidays.

Bad News At the Dentist

There were 2 cavities! Not on me. Well, let’s be real, ONE was on me, but the other was on Sissy! Her very first CAVITY!!!! She’s taking after her momma! Sad face.

She was pretty nervous, and so was I.  I was the mom in the hallway who was DYING to come in the room and hold her hand, BUT I REFRAINED! If I’ve learned one thing being married to a dentist, you don’t do THAT. It always makes the kid more nervous and more emotional, plus I knew Dave was testing me.  I held my ground and she did great in there all by herself! I was proud of the both of us!

Coley sat cool as a cucumber waiting in the next room watching a movie. No sweat there!

And with only a couple of puffy cheeks later, we were outta there with smiles on our faces! Sister did great! So did I (even if I didn’t get my gas mask fix this trip). And I suppose we should mention that the dad did great too! Happy day!

Next, we grabbed pom-poms and headed to cousin, Madi’s, softball game. It was pretty much freezing cold. But we bundled up and survived. The kids had a blast running around with their cousins and Cash, the dog. I don’t like dogs, but that’s a discussion for another day.

A Day Out With My Buddy

My field trips have slowed down ever since I got two kids. The other day Mr. Coley Bear and I ventured out and it felt great! We shot for the zoo, but unbeknownst to us, it was Free Day there!!! Ugh. I have NEVER seen crowds like that in ALL MY LIFE (and I have shopped at Costco’s in California on Saturdays). We quickly changed plans at stopped at the nearby Fort Douglas Museum.

Let me tell you, there’s a reason that place is free to visitors. It’s not super cool. But you know what? Those old men running the  show treated us like gold! We pretty much had a tour guide the whole time we were there. Whenever one dude would leave us be, the next dude would step up. We learned lots of “semi-neat” facts;) and even got a sneak peak of the new museum they are building on the property. Literally. They took us in with all the construction workers and showed us the FUTURE of Fort Douglas. It was all pretty sweet. We sure felt special.

This little monkey

Piece of the Twin Towers. They shipped out like 19? of these to different states, and we were one of the lucky few to get one

Cole trying his best to board the tank

Free soldier figurine just for coming!

Overall, a fun get-away for little boys! Cole loved the swords, guns, cannons, and especially the helicopters that were on the property. He couldn’t quite understand why we didn’t get to go for a ride on the helis, but forgave me in the end.

Disneyland Quickie

We planned a quick, last minute trip to Disneyland last weekend. We even got to go with some cousins and Grandma Sandra and Grandpa Reese. A perfect weekend!

We tested out the Hampton Inn. Loved it for a few reasons: free breakfast each morning, free lunch sack to take to the park each day, fresh-baked cookies and popcorn in the evenings, coloring pages for the kids, shuttle to the park; just lots of little perks.

Sibling love

And so our Disney adventures began!!!

Note to self: always travel with cousins. It make any vacation a party!

Caleb’s bubble gun souvenir was quickly claimed by Cole as his souvenir:

Kate and Cammie with their matchy Glow-in-the-Dark Minnie Ears:

Enjoying 3 whole days of Dad-time:

Dreaming of her own future Broadway career as she watches the “Mickey’s Magical Lamp” show:

Cole had a “Christmas Story” Santa moment when finally meeting Lightning McQueen. He stood there staring at him in awe and couldn’t think of anything to say. The workers and the parents tried helping him get words out, but he was just stunned I think. He finally started telling Lightning his hopes and dreams of receiving a “Robin” superhero Lego mini figure. And then when his time was up, Mr. Cole would not leave. The mom had to carry him off the premises so other little people could have their turn.

Another funny moment was during the firework show. The music was all “Wishes, wishes, wishes do come true, etc, etc” and Cole whispers to Dad, “I wish for a Robin super hero and a baby.” Ha, ha. I guess he was very moved by the music!

Two of the mom’s personal favorite moments:

1. Meeting Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Mitch” from Modern Family) just outside the New Orleans bathrooms. Buds. That’s us.

2. The dad surprised the mom with a 50-minute massage at the Grand America’s spa.  It was super fun and refreshing to slip away from all the rides for a couple hours of Ashley time! One of the most thoughtful things Dave has done to date!

 

Our last day (Sunday) we hit sacrament meeting in Garden Grove. After we headed over to Hollywood. I actually got to drive the LA freeways again and it was so invigorating!

At Grauman’s:

Lunch at Johnny Rockets:

Pic with the Hollywood Sign (that, conveniently, you can’t see)

Flew home during the Super bowl. AND, side note, did you know you can keep your electronic devices turned on during the entire flight now?!! Also, did you know that if you’re in the family line, you no longer have to remove your shoes or liquids and gels? Awesome. Loved that!

 

Great trip!

Little Person Music Videos

We left Sissy with our niece, Kassie, for a couple of hours and look what we got! 2 whole music videos! Both the acting and the directing deserve awards. What a crack up! Love these!

 

Let It Go:

 

Castle On A Cloud: